Deceit
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: Sequel to "Insidious." They thought the worst was over...and they thought wrong. When a mysterious girl appears out of no where on Berk who is afraid of everyone except Hiccup and Toothless, things go from crazy, to insane. Containing an OC of mine. The girl is NOT paired with Hiccup.
1. Chapter 1

**So, a new story! Yay! So, this is my FIRST EVER update on this story (kinda goes without saying, I know), and I want you all to know that YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! :D This is the sequel to "Insidious", which is the sequel to "Trapped." I suggest reading both those stories before this, but it's just optional. You can still read this story and understand the important parts. Anyways, enjoy the story!**

"WHY is it so hard to get you guys to LISTEN!?" Astrid shouted angrily to Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout.

"Because you don't let us blow stuff up!" shouted Tuffnut.

Astrid groaned in frustration and stormed out of the academy. She stomped towards Stormfly, her Nadder, and stroked her head.

"Come on, girl," said Astrid. "No need trying to get the others to listen until Hiccup gets here. Let's go look for him."

She mounted the Nadder and flew off towards the Haddock house. As she passed the forge, she saw Toothless sitting outside, looking inside.

"Never mind, found him," said Astrid, turning Stormfly towards the ground. Stormfly landed and allowed Astrid to dismount.

"Hiccup?" she called.

"Yeah, over here, Astrid, I'm coming!" shouted Hiccup from inside the forge. He walked out as Astrid approached the doorway.

"Hey," said Hiccup. "How's it going?"

"It's not," Astrid said, crossing her arms, not because she was angry, but because it was a habit. "Snotlout and the twins never listen to me."

"Oh," said Hiccup. "On a totally unrelated subject, have you seen my dagger anywhere?"

Astrid shook her head. "The last place I saw it was Outcast Island," she said. Hiccup's face fell.

"Oh," he said. "Well, I guess I should make a new one then, huh? Can't be a weaponless dragon rider, now can I?"

He turned and headed back into the forge. Astrid suddenly ran in after him and grabbed his arm.

"I need to talk to you," she said. "Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sor-"

"Don't you _dare _apologize again, Astrid," said Hiccup. "I told you, it's not your fault. What happened seven months ago? NOT your fault."

"But it was!" shouted Astrid. "I should...I should have done something to keep Alvin from hurting you. I...I should have done _something_..._anything_. And then when we thought it was over, the poison struck, and then-"

"Astrid," said Hiccup. "You need to stop beating yourself up about this kind of stuff. You need to realize that it really wasn't your fault. If it was anyone's fault, it was my own."

"YOUR fault!?" Astrid shouted. "How...what the-? It wasn't your fault!"

"It wasn't yours, either," said Hiccup.

"Fine!" Astrid said in defeat. "When are you going to start working on that dagger?"

"Sooner than later," said Hiccup.

"But why a dagger?" Astrid asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Hiccup.

"Why not a sword?" Astrid said.

"I don't understand..." said Hiccup. "I can't fight with a sword for long periods of time, you know. I just can't make a material light enough."

"How about Gronckle Iron?" Astrid asked. "Do we have any left over?"

"Possibly," said Hiccup. "I guess I could check it out. Yeah, I guess I could. So...meet you at the academy in...five hours?"  
"Deal," Astrid said. "See you later."

She turned and walked back out of the forge, mounted Stormfly, and then headed off to try and find somewhere she could get some peace and quiet. Thor's beach was normally a pretty peaceful area, so she tried that.

Stormfly landed, and Astrid dismounted, but not before she spotted something rather..._odd _looking. It looked sort of like...a wrecked mass of...something. Like someone took a bunch of ripped rags and tied pieces of bamboo together, leaving holes in it as they went.

"What in the world...?" she asked herself as she approached it. But as she did so, she nearly let out a scream. Laying face-down in the sand was the body of a girl.


	2. Chapter 2

**'ello, my wonderful readers! :) New chapter! Hooray! :) This is my FIRST update today, and just so everyone knows, Raven is my own OC. She is fourteen, too. Originally I planned for her to be ten, but then I changed it for future reasons. Also so everyone knows, I do NOT pair Raven with Hiccup. I am a Hiccstrid shipper, Raven just becomes Hiccup's friend. Just wanted to make that clear. :) Shout-outs: **

**AnimeAngel: Yep, it's Raven! :) YAY! Ugh, I need a iced mocha latte. I still feel like I'm half asleep. Like..._all day long_. :) Ha. **

**Also just so everyone else knows, I have NO IDEA what story to work on after this, so I created a Poll on my profile page. If you could, please leave a vote, because I honestly have NO IDEA what to do next. :) Thanks! BeyondTheClouds777 is out! Enjoy chapter 3, free virtual bag of your favorite candy! **

The only reason Astrid didn't scream was because her voice suddenly didn't work. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out of it.

The girl looked no older than thirteen. Her auburn (more red than brown) hair reached a little below her shoulders, and was in a messy braid. The rest of the girl's features were hidden.

"Uh...miss?" asked Astrid as she knelt down and shook the girl. "Hello?"

The girl suddenly bolted upright, nearly bonking Astrid and her heads together. She gasped when she saw Astrid and flung herself back up against the wrecked pieces of what looked like a makeshift raft.

"Oh, it's okay," said Astrid quickly, reaching out to the girl. "I didn't mean to scare you..."

The girl suddenly screamed. Not too loud, but loud enough for Astrid to jump backwards. The girl yanked out a dagger and pointed it at Astrid.

"Don't...come...closer," said the girl, her voice raspy, probably from just waking up from being unconscious. Astrid saw the girl's hands were shaking; she was terrified. The dagger was self-defense.

"Okay, I won't," said Astrid, "but you have to let me get someone to help yo-"

"No!" shouted the girl. "I don't want help!" She screamed again, louder this time. Astrid didn't know what to do. She didn't know what she _could _do. So, she settled for turning around, mounting Stormfly, and then heading towards the forge.

She heard the pounding of a hammer that meant Hiccup was working. She landed and ran inside, shouting.

"HICCUP! YOU HAVE TO COME, NOW!" she shouted. "IT'S AN EMERGENCY!"

Hiccup dropped what he was doing (literally. The hammer clattered as it hit the floor) and raced after Astrid as she turned and bolted. Hiccup mounted Toothless, and Astrid Stormfly, and the two headed off to Thor's beach.

"What is it?" asked Hiccup.

"Just you wait!" shouted Astrid. "It's gonna knock your socks off!"

"Sock," Hiccup corrected.

They landed their dragons and dismounted. Hiccup saw the strange mass of whatever-it-was and approached it. Astrid grabbed his shoulder and held him back.

"There's someone in there," said Astrid. "She was unconscious when I first found her."

"I figured," said Hiccup, pulling away from Astrid.

"She threatened to kill me!" said Astrid.

"I would too if the first thing I saw after waking up from being probably in a shipwreck was a total stranger!" said Hiccup, walking towards the mass again. He knelt down and looked in, seeing the girl curled up with her knees brought up and her arms wrapped around them.

"Hello?" asked Hiccup.

"Go...go 'way," said the girl between broken sobs.

"I won't go away until I know who you are, and that you're alright," said Hiccup.

The girl yanked her dagger out again, but Hiccup grabbed her wrist. The girl was obviously weak from the wreck because she dropped the dagger instantly and didn't even fight Hiccup's grip.

Hiccup released her wrist and picked up the dagger. The girl cowered from him as though he might stab her, but after looking at the weapon for just a split second, Hiccup tossed it away.

The girl looked up as she heard the deadly weapon of war clatter against the sand with a THUMP. Hiccup extended his hand to her. She only seemed to cower more, but she also seemed to relax slightly.

"I can't help you unless you let me," said Hiccup. "I want to help you. Please."

An eternity seemed to pass when it had only really been about ten seconds. The girl gently and tentatively held out a shaking hand and placed it in Hiccup's. Hiccup smiled and helped her to her feet.

"What's your name?" asked Hiccup.

"R-Raven," said the girl, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Raven Miraacle, actually. What's your name?"

"You'll laugh," said Hiccup, although he was grinning as well. "Hiccup."

Raven chuckled slightly. "Just Hiccup?" asked Raven.

"Oh, if you thought _that _was bad, wait until you hear my _full name_," said Hiccup.

"What is your full name?" asked Raven.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," said Hiccup.

Raven laughed slightly before looking around at her surroundings. "Where am I?" she asked.

"Right now, we're in the remains of your...whatever you called it," said Hiccup. "Past-tense, because it's wrecked beyond compare now."

"I don't like the darkness," Raven commented.

"Ahh, me neither," said Hiccup. "Should we go into the light?" he offered.

Raven took his hand again as he pulled her gently out of the ship. Astrid stared at him, wide-eyed.

"How did you...?" she asked, gesturing to the girl. Raven cowered behind Hiccup, gripping his hands as though it were her only lifeline.

"She scares me," Raven whimpered.

"Intimidating's more like it," said Hiccup. "Astrid, Raven is...she's...kind of _afraid _of you."

"Afraid of me?" asked Astrid. "Why?"  
Hiccup gave her a look like _Seriously? _before turning his attention back to the girl hiding behind him.

"Raven, this is Astrid," said Hiccup. "Astrid, this is Raven."

"It's nice to meet-" Astrid started.

"Don't touch me!" Raven cried, suddenly wrapping her arms around Hiccup's waist and holding him there. Astrid looked to Hiccup, and he nodded compassionately, and Astrid nodded back.

Toothless suddenly bounded towards Hiccup and Raven. Raven, at first, cried out and tightened her grip around Hiccup, but then Hiccup scratched the dragon's head, and Toothless gave him the lopsided, tongue-hanging-out-of-his-mouth smile.

"Is that a dragon?" asked Raven.

"Sure is," said Hiccup. "His name's Toothless."

"Why?" asked Raven. "He has teeth."

Toothless looked at her and retracted his teeth with a _shing. _Raven looked at Toothless and then back to Hiccup.

"Oooh, now I get it," she said. "And you're called Hiccup because...what?"

"It had _NOTHING _to do with an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm," said Hiccup. "It's actually what you would name the runt of the litter."

"So you're the runt?" asked Raven.

"Ahh, _was_," said Hiccup. "But that was years ago."

Raven held out her hand tentatively to Toothless. Instead of just pressing his nose against her palm, the Night Fury nuzzled up to her, sensing no threat, and then began licking her. Raven laughed and pushed against the dragon, but Toothless continued.

"Okay, Toothless, down," said Hiccup. Toothless reluctantly stepped away from Raven and allowed her some space.

"So, Raven," said Astrid, "where did you come from?"

"An island, far off," said Raven.

"What were you doing?" asked Astrid.

"What do you mean?" asked Raven.

"How did you get here, I mean?" said Astrid.

"I built this raft thingy," said Raven. "I left my island."

"Why?" asked Astrid.

"Because my parents left," said Raven.

"They left for where?" asked Astrid.

Raven bowed her head. It took Hiccup a moment to understand what had happened. He looked to Astrid, seeing a confused look played across her face.

"Astrid," said Hiccup, "her parents _died_."


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay yall! This is my SECOND update today. Hope you're all enjoying the story so far. You have _absolutely no idea _what I have planned, do you? :) Sometimes it's more exciting that way, though, so yeah. Enjoy the chapter! No shout-outs. :( Next time! :) Free virtual soda! *tosses it out to vast audience* ENJOY! **

Astrid felt like realization had hit her over the head. She was mad at herself for not seeing it before Hiccup pointed out the obvious.

"On, Raven," said Astrid, "I'm so sorry."

Raven nodded, still not coming close to Astrid. She remained in between Hiccup and Toothless, grabbing Hiccup's arm with both of her hands.

"You want to come back to the village with us?" asked Hiccup. "You can't stay here by yourself, and you should probably have one of our healers look you over for injuries."

"I don't know," said Raven. "I don't know if your chief would want me."

"My Dad's the chief," said Hiccup. "We'll figure something out."

Raven offered a weak smile to Hiccup, still not making eye contact with Astrid. Astrid pretended not to be hurt by it, but in reality, she was.

"You're really humble for the son of a chief," said Raven. "Not like our heir back on our island. He just wouldn't stop bragging. He's so annoyingly annoying it's almost not annoying."

"Oh," said Hiccup. "Thanks?"

Raven nodded. "_Could_ we go back to your village?" she asked.

"Yep," said Hiccup. "Thought you'd never ask."

They walked back to the village, Raven continuing to cower away from Astrid. She hid behind Hiccup as they walked through the village. Some villagers gasped and gaped, mumbling to themselves on who the girl was.

"So," said Hiccup, "I'm going to take you to our village healer and have her look at you-"

"NO!" shouted Raven suddenly, holding tighter to Hiccup's arm. "No, I don't want to go! Don't make me, please!"

"Uh...okay, you won't go then," said Hiccup.

At that moment, they were approached by Fishlegs.

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs greeted. "I've been looking all over for..." He stopped when he saw Raven. "Hello?" said Fishlegs. "Who is this?"

Raven only cowered.

"This is Raven," said Hiccup, speaking for the girl. "Raven, this is Fishlegs."

"Hi, Raven," said Fishlegs. "It's nice to meet you."

"You...you won't hurt me, will you?" asked Raven shyly.

"Of course not!" said Fishlegs, a little taken back by the question.

"He's right," said Hiccup. "Fishlegs couldn't hurt a fly."

"And if I did, I'd feel guilty and give it a funeral," said Fishlegs.

Raven seemed to relax slightly, but still looked terrified and worried.

"We found her on the beach," said Astrid. "She left her home island. She doesn't have any parents."

Fishlegs' facial expressions changed. "Well, I'm sure we can find a place for her on Berk," he said happily.

"Of course," said Hiccup. "Come on, Raven, let's head to my house. I'll meet you at the academy later, Fishlegs!" he called out as Fishlegs and him walked in different directions, Raven clinging to Hiccup and Astrid following behind, keeping a safe distance between herself and Raven, since, for some reason, Raven was terrified of her.

"Okay, sounds good," Fishlegs agreed. "See you then!"

They parted in separate ways, and then found themselves approached by Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

"Hey, Hiccup," said Snotlout. "I was just talking about-oh," he said when he saw Raven. "Who's she?"

"Go away," said Raven in a soft whisper. Hiccup doubted Snotlout even heard it.

"She really doesn't like meeting new people," said Hiccup.

"Who's she?" asked Tuffnut, and then he saw Raven. "Whoa," he breathed. Raven hid from him as he approached. Ruffnut elbowed her brother angrily.

"Quit it, Tuff," said Ruffnut. "She's terrified of you. And I don't blame her."

"Raven, these are my friends, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut," said Hiccup.

"Hey, Raven," said Ruffnut. "Tuffnut is my annoying double."

"Hey, you're _my _double," said Tuffnut. "We've talked about this. You're the double, I'm the original."

"I was born _first_," said Ruffnut.

"Well, yeah, but I was first to be second, so I win," said Tuffnut.

"Yeah, okay, never mind," said Hiccup. "I'm taking Raven to my place. I'll see you guys later for dragon training."

"Okay, see you later," said Snotlout. He and the twins walked off shortly after.

"Are they always like that?" asked Raven.

"Um, yeah, pretty much," said Hiccup.

"It's a little creepy if you ask me," said Raven.

"Yeah, I guess it is sometimes," said Hiccup.

"So Raven," said Astrid, "you know I won't hurt you either, right?"

Raven shook her head.

"Well, I won't," said Astrid. "I would never hurt you."

"Well, I don't trust you," Raven snapped. "So leave me alone."

Hiccup looked to Astrid and put on a sincerely sad smile and nodded. Astrid nodded back. Raven was terrified, obviously, of everyone except Hiccup and Toothless, and even Fishlegs, if just slightly.

When they arrived at the Haddock household, Astrid said goodbye to Hiccup and Raven and then headed off to her own house.

"Remember, though, Hiccup," Astrid warned right before leaving. "No dragon secrets."

"I know," said Hiccup. "I'm not going to make the same mistake I did with Heather."

Astrid nodded, punched him lightly on the shoulder, and then turned away, calling Stormfly to follow.

Raven came out from hiding behind Hiccup and looked to where Astrid had gone.

"Sorry," said Raven. "I just...haven't had a very good experience with people in the past."

"I understand," said Hiccup. He decided not to ask why she was comfortable around him, probably because he didn't want Raven to think he was onto her somehow or another.

"You sure your Dad will accept me?" she asked. "I mean...your Chief."

"I'm sure he will," said Hiccup. "He's never turned someone down before when they needed help, so why should this occasion be any different?"

Raven smiled. Her eyes were like Hiccup's; deep, emerald, almost piercing green. She looked a lot like him in some ways; he hair, her freckles, her eyes; but she was also a few inches shorter than he was, amongst other things.

"Come on," said Hiccup. "Let's go see my Dad."


	4. Chapter 4

**This is my THIRD update today. I'm trying to get a lot out since I won't be doing any from like, four and on tonight. I'll definitly update more tomorrow, and a little more in a few hours. Just making sure I get enough out, you know? :) Shout-outs: **

** IraMochaAnime-SAO: I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! :) Yeah, Raven does look a little like Hiccup. I kind of based her appearance slightly off of his, if you can tell. :) **

**Enjoy the chapter! I would like to thank all out there who do not follow, fav, or review, and just read. I hope you are all enjoying the story. :) Anyways, chapter 4! **

Just as Hiccup had predicted, Stoick allowed Raven to stay on Berk and stay with them until they figured out whether or not Raven wanted to return to her home island. But so far, she showed no signs of wanting to leave.

After giving Raven a brief tour of the house, Hiccup decided to show her around Berk a little bit. When Raven was alone with just Hiccup and Toothless, she was a talkative, over enthusiastic girl, but the moment someone passed her, she went right back to hiding behind Hiccup or Toothless, depending on who was closer.

Hiccup and Raven walked towards the forge, when a Terrible Terror flew down and landed on Hiccup's forearm.

"Oh, hey, Sharpshot," said Hiccup to the dragon. "How's it going?"

"Sharpshot?" asked Raven. "That is ADORABLE!" She looked to Hiccup and gestured to the dragon. Hiccup nodded, and Raven scratched the Terror under his chin. Sharpshot instantly began purring. He jumped off Hiccup's arm and alighted on Raven's. At first, Raven yelped at the sudden movement from the dragon, but then Sharpshot liched her cheek, and she laughed.

"Is Sharpshot your dragon?" asked Raven.

"Ah, yeah," said Hiccup. "I trained him, anyways. He really doesn't stick around with me for long periods of time. Unless I'm sick, or hurt. Then he does."

Sharpshot spread his wings and took off back into the sky. Raven watched with wide eyes until he had disappeared from view.

"What kind of dragon is he?" asked Raven.

"Sharpshot?" asked Hiccup. "He's a Terrible Terror."

"Where'd they get the name from?" asked Raven.

"No clue," said Hiccup.

Raven laughed softly. "I like Terrible Terrors," she said. "How did you train them?"

"I trusted them, they trusted me, and _clink_. Bond," said Hiccup.

"Could you show me how to do it?" asked Raven.

Hiccup was about to just shout "Yeah!", but he hesitated. He remembered Heather, and although Raven didn't seem anything like the previous visitor, he didn't want to take his chances. However, if _he _trained a Terror for her, he could give it to her as her own dragon, that way he didn't show her any secrets.

"I could get you a Terror, yeah," said Hiccup. "What color?"

"They come in different colors?" asked Raven.

"Well, a few," said Hiccup. "Purple, blue, red, green, tan...that's about it."

"I don't really care," said Raven. "Purple would be cool...but so would blue...and so would red, and green, and...agh! You choose, okay?" she offered.

"Sure," said Hiccup. "Okay, this is the forge!" he announced as they reached said establishment.

"Wow," said Raven. "This is really cool."

"Thanks," said Hiccup. "I've worked here most my life."

"You have?" asked Raven.

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "My mentor, Gobber, taught me everything I know."

"What do you know?" asked Raven.

"Well..." said Hiccup, "quite a bit. Here," he took out his notebook and opened it, letting her see some of his previous inventions, such as The Mangler. And then there were also some sketches of future ideas.

"Wow," said Raven. "I don't know what in the world it is, but it's awesome."

"Thanks," said Hiccup, closing the notebook and putting it back on one of the shelves in the forge. Raven caught sight of the sword Hiccup was making earlier that day.

"What's that?" she asked, moving towards the sword. It wasn't much so far; just a half-made blade.

"Oh, that?" said Hiccup. "Just a sword I was working on earlier. I'm not very strong, so I had to make a lightweight one I could actually use fluently in battle."

"Clever," said Raven. "How'd you do that?"

"We figured out how to produce this lightweight metal," said Hiccup, speaking of Gronckle Iron, but not telling Raven the name of the product for safety reasons. "Only for a short amount of time, though. But I managed to find some extra lying around, so I'm working with that."

"Cold," said Raven.

"Cold?" asked Hiccup.

"Yeah, cold," said Raven. "It's an expression on my island," she explained after seeing Hiccup's confused face. "It's like cool, only cool_er_, so it's technically cold."

"Huh," said Hiccup. "Well, that's..._odd. _I like it, though. Odd is kind of what I do best at times."

Raven smiled and laughed slightly.

"So," she said, "Fishlegs spoke of an academy."

"Ah, right," said Hiccup. "The Berk Dragon Training Academy."

"Could you show me?" asked Raven. "From afar, though. I don't really want to see any of your friends right now."

"That's okay," said Hiccup. "I understand."

"I'm sorry," said Raven. "You probably think I'm a coward."

"What? No, not at all!" said Hiccup. "You were just in a boat-wreck, Raven. I don't blame you for being skittish."

"You don't?" asked Raven hopefully.

"Not at all," said Hiccup. He hesitated. "Would you feel better about seeing my friends if you had a dragon to protect you?" he asked.

"What do you mean 'protect me'?" asked Raven.

"Well, dragons can sense when there's danger," said Hiccup, "and you wanted a Terrible Terror, and they are an extremely protective breed of dragon. If you wanted, I could get one for you, and then we could go meet the others at the academy."

"You would really get one for me?" asked Raven. "Right now?"

"Sure," said Hiccup. "Right now? Why not! I've showed you pretty much the rest of the village. We could head up to Raven Point to see if we can't find a Terror."

"Raven Point?" Raven repeated. "It's cold that it has Raven in it."

"Yep," said Hiccup. "Very very cold."

The two turned to Toothless, and Hiccup mounted, waiting for Raven to get on behind him, but she hesitated.

"Raven?" asked Hiccup. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," said Raven, still looking at Toothless. "It's just that...that...never mind, it's stupid."

"No, it's not," said Hiccup, dismounting and approaching her. "What is it?"

"I'm..." said Raven. "I've got this terrible fear of heights."


	5. Chapter 5

**This is my FORTH update today. Glad most of you like the story so far! :) Shout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: Wait and see! :) And I am SO SORRY about the request thingy...I just have NO IDEA what to do with it. But yeah, I will FOR SURE do one about the Ghost dragon and Hiccup gets captured by it (I put a brief summary on my profile, and I'm running a poll to see which story I do next). It will be called "It Comes At Night." :) **

**xFaerieValkyriex: It's kind of hard to tell with Raven so far. She is a curious character, but you DO learn more about her, I promise! :D Maybe not in THIS particular chapter, but in chapters to come. :) **

**I would like to thank all who read without reviewing, favoriting, or following. It makes me smile to know that there are TONS of people who just READ it. :) Thanks for all! Chapter 5! **

"You're afraid of heights?" asked Hiccup.

Raven sighed and nodded. By the look on her face, she was clearly embarrassed. If she wanted a place on Berk, being afraid of heights seemed rather..._unhelpful_. Since a BIG part of Berk was dragons, being afraid of high places didn't seem useful.

"That's no big deal," said Hiccup. Raven still looked ashamed. "Hey, guess what?" said Hiccup.

"What?" asked Raven.

"I used to be afraid of _dragons_," said Hiccup.

"WHAT!?" shouted Raven. Suddenly having a fear of heights didn't seem as strange on Berk as having a fear of dragons.

"That's right," said Hiccup. He shrugged. "It was temporary."

"Why were you afraid of dragons?" asked Raven.

"Well," said Hiccup, "my Mom was killed in a dragon raid, before we made peace." His voice lowered and wavered. He hated talking about what happened.

"Oh, Hiccup," said Raven. "I'm so sorry."

"Me too," said Hiccup. He shook his head, trying to get off the subject; "But then I overcame it, and my greatest fear, became my best friend." Toothless nudged him playfully and purred.

"Wow," said Raven. "I...I guess I'm afraid of heights because...because..." her voice trailed off. "Never mind," she said. "Could we just ride Toothless _without _him flying?"

"Sure," said Hiccup. He mounted Toothless, and Raven mounted after him, wrapping her arms around his middle to steady herself.

"Ready?" asked Hiccup.

"Ready," answered Raven. With that, Toothless bounded off towards Raven Point. It would have been easier, smoother, and quicker to fly, but Hiccup didn't want to push Raven into facing her fear. Sometimes it was the best way to get rid of one; facing it head on, but Raven was already ashamed of her fear. If she refused to meet it head on, it would just make it worse for herself.

"Almost there," said Hiccup. "Just a few more minutes."

"Okay," said Raven. She already enjoyed being on the back of a dragon, just so long as she wasn't in the air. She couldn't wait to get a Terror to be her companion.

After a few more minutes, the trio arrived at Raven Point. Hiccup dismounted, Raven doing the same.

"Okay," said Hiccup, "now, let's look for a Terrible Terror. Raven, you stay with Toothless and look around here. I'm going to go a little further in and look for one, okay?"

"Okay," said Raven. She didn't want Hiccup to go without her, but she knew she would be safe with Toothless. Besides, she expected dragon training would be a challenge, and she didn't want to distract Hiccup while he did it.

Hiccup nodded to Toothless; his way of silently saying _Keep an eye on her _and then turned and walked deeper into the forest of Raven Point. Raven watched him until she couldn't see him, and then she turned to Toothless.

"What kind of dragon are you?" she asked. "I forgot to ask Hiccup."

Toothless looked at her and cocked her head. Raven laughed.

"So, Toothless," said Raven. "What should I name my Terror?"

Toothless looked at her as if thinking. Raven waited patiently for the dragon to respond. Toothless looked at the girl and then flipped over on his back, rolling around in the grass.

"Um...Roller?" asked Raven. "I guess that's interesting...but what about something different?"

Toothless looked at Raven and stood on his legs again. Then, he turned and walked in another direction. Raven quickly stood up from where she had seated herself on a rock and followed the dragon in close pursuit.

"Toothless, wait up!" she called, following the dragon. Toothless looked over his shoulder to make sure she was following, and then turned and bounded into the cove. Raven came to the edge and stopped. Toothless looked up at her and roared with anticipation.

Raven carefully slid down the edge, finding foot holes to use almost as if she were rock climbing. When she got close enough to the ground, she jumped off the side, landing on her feet. Toothless bounded around her happily and then dived into the lake.

Raven ran over to the edge and looked in. Toothless poked his head out of the water expectantly.

"Um...Lake?" asked Raven. "That's a pretty name, but...any better ideas?"

Toothless frowned and then jumped out of the water, shaking it off him. Raven shielded her face with her arms and then stared.

"Drops?" she offered. "No. Oh, how about...Droplette? Oh, hang on..."

She looked back at Toothless, seeing the dragon clawing at the ground for no apparent reason.

"Claw? she asked. "Ugh, I guess I'll just have to _see _the dragon for myself and _then _pick the name, huh?"

Toothless nodded.

Raven looked back up and turned to the dragon.

"We should probably head back," she said. "Hiccup will probably be wondering where we went off to if he gets back there before we do."

Toothless nodded and then tried to get out of the cove. But he couldn't. It was too high up. The dragon groaned miserably and flopped backwards in frustration.

"Why can't you fly up?" asked Raven. Then she noticed something she hadn't before. One of Toothless' tailfins were missing.

"What happened to your tail, boy?" asked Raven. Toothless only stared at the prosthetic tail and cooed. Raven shook her head. She had no idea what the dragon was trying to tell her.

"There you are!" shouted a voice from above. Raven looked up to see Hiccup enter the cove. "I had a feeling I'd find you guys here."

On his forearm sat a purple Terrible Terror. Raven gasped.

"Aww, he's so cute!" she exclaimed.

"_She's_," Hiccup corrected. "She's a girl."

"Oh," said Raven. "Well, _she's _so cute."

Hiccup nodded to the Terror, and she flew and landed on Raven's head. Raven laughed.

"She's yours," said Hiccup.

"I LOVE her!" shouted Raven. "But what should I name her?"

"I haven't a clue," said Hiccup. "She's your dragon. You can name her anything you want."

Raven thought about the names she and Toothless thought of; Droplette, Roller, Lake...but none of them seemed to fit. The Terror flew off her head and landed on her forearm. Raven laughed and scratched the dragon's chin. The small animal purred.

"What should I name you, huh, girl?" asked Raven.

Weather she understood what Raven said or not, the Terror stuck its tongue out and licked one of its eyes.

"Huh," said Raven. "Eyelicker it is."


	6. Chapter 6

**This is my FIFTH update today on this fic. Hope you're all liking it so far. I've got quite a bit more in store for this one. :) Also, on my profile, I have a POLL determining which fic I will write next. I really have no idea what to write, so if you could vote on one, that would be great. The request with the most votes will be removed from the poll list and then written while the other options remain. I really need some options. Hmmm...XD I am clueless Queen Cliffie. :) Snout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: Oh no, I don't judge you! I totally get it! I think it is very interesting, I just have no idea what to write for one. I am excited about writing how Hiccup gets captured. And yeah, it should take place around Halloween. :) That would be _creeeeeeeepy_. Well, creepi_er_. :)  
**

** xFaerieValkyriex: LOL! Yeah, I probably broke fanfiction quite a few times now, huh? :D Sorry about that. I just see a story and I just gotta...update it. You know. It's who I am, fandom. :D (see what I did there? XD) **

**Others: Enjoy this chapter! If you don't, I mean, that's okay too! :) No pressure. Have fun! **

Although the name seemed preposterous to Raven, the Terrible Terror didn't seem to mind that her name was Eyelicker. In fact, she seemed to have enjoyed it for some strange reason.

"Makes more sense than Toothless," Hiccup mumbled when Eyelicker licked one of her eyes. "Actually, makes more sense than _Hiccup _too."

Raven laughed. "I suppose so," she said. "So...should we head off to the academy?"

"If you want to," said Hiccup.

"I do," said Raven. "But Toothless can't get out of here."

Toothless sighed.

"Oh, it's okay," said Hiccup. "I'll have to fly him out."

Raven seemed to turn pale as soon as he mentioned the word "fly", because fly could only mean one thing: heights.

"Oh, not _that _type of fly," Hiccup assured. "Oh, okay, that came out sounding weird. Toothless is just going to fly slightly while jumping out. Okay?"

Raven seemed assured by this. She got on Toothless behind Hiccup, and then the dragon flew just high enough to get out of the cove. Then, he landed and broke out into a run. Eyelicker clung to Raven's arm for stability, and Raven clung to Hiccup for the same reason.

When they got back to the village, Toothless made a beeline for the academy. He raced through the door and skidded to a hault. Hiccup and Raven dismounted. The others were already there; Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and their dragons. Raven didn't hide behind Hiccup exactly, but she didn't remain in full view either.

"Well, it's _about time _you got here," said Snotlout angrily.

"Sorry," said Hiccup. "I was getting a dragon for Raven."

He nodded to the others, just in a way of telling them _I didn't show her any dragon secrets_ and then turned back to Raven. She looked scared, but at least she wasn't cowering behind him like she had been earlier.

"Okay," said Hiccup. "Shall we get on with some training?"

"What are we working on today, Hiccup?" asked Astrid.

"Fishlegs and I have been working on something new," said Hiccup. "It's called Morse Code."

"Morse Code?" asked Tuffnut. "What's that?"

"Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked, calling him over. Fishlegs approached Hiccup, being careful not to scare Raven, and then turned to the others.

"Morse Code," Hiccup began, "is a method of transmitting text information as a series of tones, flashes, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer."

"I don't know _what _he just said," said Ruffnut.

"Me neither," said Tuffnut.

Hiccup facepalmed. "Never mind," he said. "Fishlegs will help me demonstrate."

Fishlegs and Hiccup walked over to a wall. Raven now hid next to Toothless, watching Hiccup's every move.

Fishlegs started tapping on the wall. After about three minutes, he stopped, and Hiccup began tapping.

"What are they doing?" Ruffnut whispered.

"Shh," Astrid hissed.

"There," said Hiccup. "We just discussed the antics of a Night Fury."

"That's amazing!" shouted Astrid. "You have to teach us! Can you only imagine how much this will benefit the academy?"

"It's not just tapping, either," said Hiccup. "You could do the same thing with a shield, or any other shiny object."

He grabbed his Gronckle Iron shield and held it up to the light. The sunlight reflected off the shield, and Fishlegs looked at it intently.

"Hiccup just said, 'Do the twins and Snotlout ever listen?'" said Fishlegs.

"Correct," said Hiccup, lowering the shield. "We could do this from long distances, sending messages in almost an instant."

"That's incredible!" said Astrid. "You have to teach it to us!"

"We will," said Hiccup. "That's exactly what we're working on today. Morse Code."

...

After about half an hour of practicing, Astrid was trying to carry on a small conversation with Hiccup. She could perform Morse Code herself pretty well already, but she had trouble when it came to understanding what the other was saying.

Raven had just the opposite problem. She could understand perfectly, she just had a hard time writing in Morse Code.

"Okay, let me try it," said Astrid. She tapped on the wall in different frequencies. "Could you understand any of that?" she asked Hiccup.

In respond, Hiccup tapped on the wall.

"Um...you said, 'Parts of it'?" Astrid asked.

"I said 'Most of it'," said Hiccup. "We'll need to work on this some more."

While Hiccup was working with Raven and Astrid (who were both keeping safe distance), Fishlegs was trying (and failing) to work with Snotlout and the twins. Snotlout actually seemed like he was trying to listen, but when Fishlegs asked him what he had just said, Snotlout claimed he didn't know.

After a few more hours, Astrid, Raven, and Snotlout (surprisingly) had pretty much mastered Morse Code. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were transmitting their messages through banging their heads together in different frequencies. It was strange to watch, but they actually did it a few times. They had _no idea _how to understand what other people were saying in Morse, but they didn't really care.

"Okay, that went pretty good," said Hiccup. "We'll work on it more tomorrow."

"Ugh...more?" asked Tuffnut. "What's fun about that?"

"It's not _supposed _to be _fun_," said Ruffnut, "it's a Hiccup idea."

"Exactly," said Hiccup. He paused. "What?"

Raven laughed.

"Okay, so, let's head to the Great Hall," Snotlout suggested.

"Great!" said Tuffnut. "I'm starving."

"You guys go on ahead," said Hiccup. "I'll meet you there later."

Snotlout, the twins, and their dragons left the academy. Raven, Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, and their dragons remained behind. Astrid pulled Hiccup aside, obviously to talk in private. Fishlegs joined them, and although Raven felt it could have been wrong, she couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"Aftershocks again?" asked Astrid.

Raven heard Hiccup sigh. "Yeah," he said. "How did you know?"

"Honestly, Hiccup," said Astrid. "Do I really need to answer that question? Same way I know every time. I've known you for a few years. I can read you like a book."

"It's no surprise," said Fishlegs.

"Look, guys, really, it's okay," said Hiccup. "It's not bad."

"No, I don't think it is okay, or 'not bad', as you put it," said Astrid. "You should go get some rest. You've been up since dawn, haven't you?"

"And...how would you know that?" asked Hiccup.

"Not important," said Astrid.

"Yeah, actually it is..."

"Hiccup," said Fishlegs, "go on ahead. You could meet us at the Great Hall when you feel up to it."

Hiccup sighed heavily. "It's been seven months," he groaned. "I shouldn't still be feeling aftershocks."

"It was bad poison, Hiccup," said Astrid. "Gothi said it would be normal, you know that."

"I know," said Hiccup. "It's just a pain. Literally and metaphorically."

"Go on home," said Astrid.

"What about Raven?" asked Hiccup. "She doesn't exactly feel safe around you, Astrid."

"I think she'll be okay with Fishlegs," said Astrid.

"I will," said Raven. The three jumped, not realizing she had been listening in. "Yeah, I'll be fine with Fishlegs and Eyelicker."

Eyelicker licked one of her eyes and nodded.

"Okay," said Hiccup. "Are you sure, Raven?"

"Sure," said Raven. "Just so long as it's just Fishlegs, and not one of your other friends."

"We could get a separate table in the Great Hall," Fishlegs offered.

"That could work," said Astrid.

"Okay, I'll meet you there in an hour or so," said Hiccup. He turned, mounted Toothless, and then left the academy.

"What were you guys talking about?" asked Raven.

"I'll explain everything over dinner," said Fishlegs. "You must be starving."


	7. Chapter 7

**Welcome to the insanity! :) This is my FIRST update today. I did a lot yesterday, too. From like, two o'clock today to like, eight o'clock this evening I probably will not be able to update (life is crazy), so I plan to get a lot out there while I can! :) Shout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: The aftershocks are from a poison mentioned in my story "Insidious" (which is the prequel to this story). You'll learn more about Raven in some of these future chapters! I don't know where the story's headed to be honest...I mean, I've got a GREAT idea for it (or, at least I HOPE it's a great idea...I won't know till I get it out there), so yeah. You'll have to wait and see! :) **

**AnimeAngel: OH MY GOODNESS YEEEEEESSSS PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE! AND OH MY GOODNESS NNNOOOOOOOO DO NOT LET THE TWINS DISCOVER COFFEE NNNNOOOOOO! You know what's gonna happen now is I'm probably going to end up writing a fic in which they discover the caffeinated drink. Oh no...could you only imagine? Ruff and Tuff are bouncing off the walls shouting "WHOO HOO!" and we see Astrid out in the distance shouting, "Hiccup, we need you!" and Fishlegs is all like "Chances or survival are dwindling into single didgets now," and then we have Snotlout who's just nodding his head in approval. :) I SHOULD WRITE THIS! :D **

**Arcaane: Which story has your OC in it? **

**amillipede: My thoughts exactly. :) And yes, we will get more on Raven soon. :) I'm just waiting for the perfect moment to spew it all out to you wonderful people and break your hearts-oops, was that out loud? XD! Really, though, that could happen, or it could NOT happen. You never know with me. Not even _I _know with me! XD! **

**toothflyhiccstrid4eva: Here you go! :D **

**ScarletNightFury: "Oh hello nice dragon! I'm just a little sheep, doing sheep things, baaaaah. Baaaaaaaahh." XD! I loved that episode so much! :D LOL! **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Hmmmm...that's my goal. To get you guys thinking! :) And it appears to be working...yes yes *walks around your chair suspiciously* I believe it is working quite well, if I do say so myself. :) **

**Enjoy the chapter! I want to thank all who read and don't fav, follow, or review. I know you're out there, so THANKS! You guys are ALL awesome! :D Free virtual cookies of your choice! :) **

Raven sat across from Fishlegs at one of the tables in the Great Hall. It wasn't crowded, which relieved Raven. She looked over at the table, Astrid, Snotlout and the twins were sitting at.

Raven cut into her fish and took a bite. "So...you said you would explain," she said to Fishlegs. "You gonna start or not?"

"Yes, I'm going to start," said Fishlegs. "It was about seven months ago, Hiccup was poisoned."

"By whom?" asked Raven.

"Well, before that, he was stabbed," said Fishlegs. "By Alvin the Treacherous."

"Stabbed?!" Raven shrieked as loudly as she dared.

"My reaction exactly," said Fishlegs. "After the wound sealed, we found out that the blade had been poisoned. It almost killed him."

Raven stared at him. "And then...?" she asked, pressing for details.

"We found the cure, saved his life, and boom, things are pretty much back to normal," said Fishlegs. "Except for what we were talking about a few minutes ago. Aftershocks."

Raven nodded and took another bite of her food, nodding for Fishlegs to go on.

"He gets them almost every other week," said Fishlegs. "They don't really come in any sort of pattern; we've tried that. He normally just looks really pale, gets tired easily, sometimes gets fevers...different stuff."

"Sounds awful," said Raven. "And this has been going on for seven months, you say?"

"Yeah," said Fishlegs.

"That _is_ awful," breathed Raven. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"He's not very...what's the right word," said Fishlegs. "Outspoken? He doesn't like people worrying about him, especially his friends. Of course, he gets enough worry as it is from his Dad. He doesn't need any more from us, but we can't help but worry. He's our leader, after all. More than that, he's our friend."

"So, what about Snotlout?" asked Raven. "He doesn't seem to exactly like Hiccup."

"Oh, he likes Hiccup, although he'll never admit it," said Fishlegs. "And by that, I mean he cares. They're cousins, after all."

"Really?" asked Raven, looking over to the table the other riders were seated at, watching as Snotlout fell backwards off the bench. "There's not much resemblance."

"In looks, no," said Fishlegs, "but when they get in an argument...boy. They can carry on an argument till kingdom come. Except Hiccup always wins them, just because he's smarter than Snotlout, and knows how to ask questions he doesn't know how to answer."

"Like what?" said Raven.

"I don't know exactly," said Fishlegs. "I don't keep a record of them."

Raven nodded slightly and looked back to Astrid, fear in her eyes. Fishlegs followed her gaze.

"So..." said Fishlegs, "why are you afraid of Astrid?"

Raven turned back to him so suddenly it almost hurt her head. "I...maybe it's because..." she started, and then sighed. "Never mind, it's really nothing important," she said dolefully.

Fishlegs didn't press for details, but he was wondering. Raven took another bite of fish and then looked back.

"This is really good," she commented.

"We have our mix of good and bad chefs here on Berk," said Fishlegs. "Most of them are pretty good, some of them...ahh...not so much."

Raven nodded. "Same as back on my island," she said. "Although most of the youths assisted, since they were naturally good at cooking." She sighed. "I was the worst out of all of them."

"Nothing to be ashamed of here," said Fishlegs. "You know, Astrid could burn _water_. It's a special skill, I'm telling you. And Snotlout could cook for ten minutes, and in just that time, the house would be burnt down."

Raven laughed slightly, and then frowned. "I feel like I could trust you," she said. "Is that right?"

"Well, I mean...I am one of Hiccup's friends, so it's not wrong," said Fishlegs. "But what do you mean exactly?"

"I'm..." said Raven, "I'm afraid of Astrid, I guess...because...I had a sister, back on my own island. She was...older than me by almost ten years. She twenty four, me fourteen. We...we used to be friends, until..." she stopped. Fishlegs didn't press, but Raven continued nonetheless. "...until our parents died," Raven went on. "They died both at the same time. It...it was awful. When...when we received news on what happened, my sister...she was nearly driven mad. She...she yelled at me and kicked me out, telling me never to return. I guess...I guess it's dumb. Astrid's not my sister, but...the blonde hair and blue eyes just brought back the memory."

"I'm...I'm sorry, Raven," said Fishlegs. "If I had known-"

"It's alright," Raven promised. "You didn't know, and...you...you could tell Hiccup if you want. I really...I really don't want to tell him myself. He'd think it's weak."

"Who would? Hiccup?" asked Fishlegs. "Raven, Hiccup can't even pick up a _sword _for goodness sake without nearly dropping it. Being afraid of someone who looks like someone from your past doesn't make you weak."

"I guess," said Raven. "But still..." Her voice trailed off.

"Can I tell you something?" said Fishlegs, leaning forward.

"What?" Raven whispered, also leaning in.

"Hiccup is afraid of lightning," said Fishlegs.

"He is?" asked Raven. "Why?"

"He was struck by lightning a while back," said Fishlegs. "Nearly killed him. It also hit Toothless' tailfin, causing him and the dragon to crash. Toothless was almost banished during the same lightning storm...I guess he has reasons to hate it."

Raven nodded. "I'm afraid of heights," she said. "Don't tell anyone else, though," she added quickly, glancing at Astrid's table.

"Oh," said Fishlegs. "Is there a reason you're afraid of heights?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Raven. "I'm sorry, Fishlegs. I just...I can't talk about it without breaking down."

"I understand that," said Fishlegs. "You don't have to tell me."

"Thank you," said Raven.

At that moment, Astrid stood up and approached their table.

"I'm going to go check on Hiccup," she said. "I think I hear a hammer pounding out in the distance."

When Raven listened carefully enough, she heard it to; a steady, rhythmic sound following in a decent pattern; the same pattern each time, never missing a beat.

"I tell you," Astrid laughed, "I tell him to rest, and what do you know? He does the exact opposite. Maybe I should _tell him _to work in the forge."

She turned and stalked out of the Great Hall and called to her Nadder. Raven turned her attention back to Fishlegs.

"Well, that's Hiccup for you," said Fishlegs.


	8. Chapter 8

**This is my SECOND update today. I really hope this story's good enough for you guys. :) I guess authors always feel a little self-conscious about their work. :) I don't...nope, no shout-outs now. Next time, though, hopefully. :) As for now, enjoy chapter 8! :) And no cliffhanger this time! Well, sort of...more or less. Oh, don't worry though. They'll be TONS of more cliffhangers in the future chapters of this fic. :) ENJOY! **

It was the sound of a hammer. Hiccup's hammer.

The sound pounded against Astrid's ears; how in the world did Hiccup stand it? She knew he had worked in the forge a lot of his life and still spend numerous amounts of his time there, but still. It was very annoying, and often gave her a headache just listening to it.

She landed Stormfly in front of the forge and then entered. Toothless was curled up in the corner. He lifted his head and growled, but then relaxed when he saw it was only Astrid, and went back to sleeping.

"Hiccup?" Astrid called.

The hammer stopped pounding. Astrid heard it being set down, and then Hiccup turned the corner.

"Astrid," he said. "Hi Astrid, hi Astrid...uh...what are you doing here?"

"What are _you _doing here?" asked Astrid.

"Uh..."

"I told you to go rest," said Astrid.

"I needed to finish this project," said Hiccup. "You know. The sword I was making? I just...I couldn't sleep with it on my mind."

"You didn't even try, did you?" asked Astrid.

"No," said Hiccup without missing a beat. "Look, you know as well as I do I can't sit around while everyone else is doing other stuff."

"Well, the only reason you are 'sitting around', quote on quote, is because you were _stabbed _and _poisoned_," said Astrid.

"Seven months ago!" said Hiccup.

"Still experiencing aftershocks, though," said Astrid.

"How annoying," said Hiccup.

"Hiccup," said Astrid in a warning tone.

"I know, I know," said Hiccup. "You bet I know. I just don't really _care_, so to say. It doesn't mean much to me."

"You almost _died, _Hiccup," said Astrid.

"I know, Astrid," said Hiccup.

"Twice," said Astrid. "Actually, a lot more than that, now that I think about it."

"I KNOW, _Astrid_," said Hiccup.

"I know you do," said Astrid. "I wish it could have been different, but it wasn't. You're overworking yourself. You need to just take a break sometimes."

"I'm the leader of the Berk Dragon Training Academy, Astrid," said Hiccup. "Taking a break sounds really nice sometimes, but I can't."

"Why not?" asked Astrid.

"Because reasons," said Hiccup. "You know how the twins and Snotlout act. They have to be kept an eye on."

"I could do that," said Astrid.

"It's different," said Hiccup. "I appreciate that you're trying to help, but...it might be easier if you just let me take care of them, okay?"

"Hiccup, you _know _if you need help you can ask for it, right?" said Astrid.

"Yeah, I do," said Hiccup. "I'm just not used to it."

Astrid sighed and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "You feel warm," she commented.

"We're in a _forge, _Astrid," said Hiccup. "It's no arctic circle."

Astrid laughed. "I know," she said. Then, in a more serious tone, she added, "But I'm not taking any chances."

"What?" asked Hiccup.

"I'm taking you back to your house," said Astrid.

"Now thats...out of character," said Hiccup.

She pulled back and whacked him on the forearm.

"Aaaaaand she's back," said Hiccup.

Astrid smirked, grabbed his hand, and pulled him out of the forge. Hiccup mounted Toothless, and Astrid mounted Stormfly, and then they headed off towards the Haddock household.

Upon reaching said establishment, they dismounted and headed inside. Stoick hadn't arrived there yet, so the house was empty.

Hiccup and Astrid made their way to Hiccup's loft, almost silent, not speaking to one another, not really for any set reason. Hiccup moved over and sat on the edge of his bed, Astrid sitting beside him.

"So..." said Hiccup, "...why'd you drag me back here again?"

"Because you could be getting another fever," said Astrid.

"_Another_?" Hiccup repeated.

"Yes, Hiccup, _another_," Astrid confirmed. She sighed. "You've been getting them a lot the past seven months."

"I blame the poison," said Hiccup.

"We _all _do," said Astrid. "Don't worry."

Hiccup sighed and laid back awkwardly. "I don't get it," he moaned in frustration, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "The aftershocks should have stopped by now."

"You do have a point," said Astrid, "but it was Outcast poison. Gothi said the aftershocks could last up to a year."

"Five months to go," said Hiccup. "It seemed to happen much longer ago than seven months though. Maybe seven _years_."

"I understand that," said Astrid, "but you and I both know that's not the case."

"I wish it was," said Hiccup.

"We all do," said Astrid.

"Could you please stop saying that?" asked Hiccup. "Seriously, I get it. We all wish things were different, but they're not."

"Yeah," said Astrid. "Just hang in there."

"I'm not given the choice."

Astrid sighed. "Please try to rest?" she asked. "And don't sneak out again, okay?"

"Okay," said Hiccup. "I'll do it...but I won't like it."

Astrid smiled, nodded to Toothless in a way the dragon read as _Don't let him out of the house_ and then turned and walked back down the stairs and outside where Stormfly was waiting patiently.

"Hey, girl," Astrid greeted as she mounted. "Let's head on home."

She turned the Nadder and flew off.


	9. Chapter 9

**This is my THIRD update today. Enjoy! Shout-outs:**

**AnimeAngel: Ooooh man. Hiccup be all like "EVERYONE! WE'RE EVACUATING THE ISLAND! QUICK! BEFORE THE TWINS FIND US!" And then Tuffnut's all like "WHHHHHHHOOOO!" and I'm all like, hiding in the corner of the room with my computer. XD! :) You know what I'm gonna do sometime? WRITE that! :) Tuffnut and Ruffnut discover coffee. Nothing more to be said. XD! **

Fishlegs walked Raven back to the Haddock household. Fishlegs was commenting on Eyelicker (who was currently doing the thing she had been named for) while Raven rambled on about how amazing Meatlung was.

Fishlegs was genuinely surprised by her talkative attitude when she had been cowering behind Hiccup the just a little earlier that day. Had it seriously only been a few hours ago that the girl had been found?

"So what kind of dragon is she?" asked Raven.

"Meatlung is a Gronckle, member of the Boulder Class," said Fishlegs, being careful not to give Raven too many details. He didn't want a Heather incident to happen again.

Raven didn't press for details. When she reached the Haddock house, she bid Fishlegs goodnight, and then quietly opened the door. Stoick was still out, and Hiccup wasn't in sight; probably up in his room resting.

Raven closed the door behind her silently and moved towards one of the spare bedrooms Hiccup had told her could be her own. It wasn't a large room, but instead of feeling claustrophobic, Raven felt more comfortable in a small area than a large one. Large areas always tended to scare her...when she wondered why, she thought it could have been because of how her parents died...

She hadn't realized she had been crying until Eyelicker licked her cheek (thankfully, the Terror didn't seem interested in licking Raven's eye, which relieved Raven. She would rather keep dragon spit out of her corneas, thank you very much). Raven offered a smile to the Terror and pat her head affectionately. The dragon's throat erupted in happy purrs.

"Sorry, Eyelicker," said Raven. "I'm just...scared."

The Terror tilted her head sideways in either confusion or acknowledgement, Raven didn't know. She really hoped it was acknowledgement, because it'd be a shame to tell someone how you really feel and have them thinking "I have no idea what in the world you are talking about."

Raven crawled into bed, the Terror jumping off her forearm and landing on one of the bedposts.

"Goodnight, Eyelicker," Raven said to the dragon. "I'll see you in the morning."

She blew out the candle, and then quickly fell asleep.

...

Something woke her up. When she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she saw it was Toothless, nudging her, obviously trying to wake her up.

"Toothless?" asked Raven, sitting up and yawning. "What are you doing? What do you need?"

Toothless nudged her off the bed and then turned and bolted. Raven quickly stood and followed the Night Fury. Eyelicker scowled from being woken but trailed her master anyways.

Toothless bounded up the stairs to Hiccup's loft and grunted for her to follow. Raven did so hesitantly, wincing every time the floorboards creaked beneath her feet.

When they got to Hiccup's loft, they found Hiccup laying on his bed, looking paler than earlier. Raven crossed the room and pressed her hand to his forehead. She gasped and withdrew it.

"Stay here, Toothless," she told the dragon, and then raced back downstairs to fetch some water and a rag.

When she got both items, she brought them back up the loft. She dipped the rag in the water and wrung it out several times before placing it on Hiccup's forehead. Hiccup opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"Raven?" he breathed, more of a statement than a question. "What are you...?"

"Toothless was worried," said Raven. "He came and got me." She crossed her arms and frowned. "When were you going to tell me, Hiccup? About the poison?"

"Tomorrow, actually," said Hiccup. "I just thought you went through enough earlier without worrying about me."

"Well, too late for that," said Raven. She shook her head. "Fishlegs explained," she said.

"I figured he would," said Hiccup. "He's a pretty outspoken person, once you get to know him."

"Well, I guess him and I have a lot in common then," said Raven.

"Yeah, I guess you do," said Hiccup.

"We have a lot to talk about," said Raven, "and I guess I should go first."

She told her exactly what she told Fishlegs about her sister. Hiccup listened, nodding and frowning when appropriate.

"I don't believe it," he said. "I mean...of course I believe you that it happened, but...wow. Why would someone do that?"

Raven shook her head. "I don't know," she said dolefully. "I don't think she realized what she did until she did it."

"I'm...I'm sorry, Raven," said Hiccup.

"I've been getting that a lot from you lately," said Raven, not in an accusing tone, but more of a "just to let you know" kind of tone. "But I don't really think you have anything to be sorry for. It's not _your _problem. It's mine."

"But I feel like I should do something," said Hiccup.

"There's nothing you can do," said Raven. She changed the subject. "So...Snotlout's your cousin, huh?" she asked.

"Ahh, yeah," said Hiccup.

"When were you going to tell me that?" asked Raven.

"I didn't plan it out, but you know now," said Hiccup. "I suppose Fishlegs told you that, too?"

Raven nodded. "Yes, he did," she said. She paused and sighed. "C-could..." she stuttered, "I feel like...I feel like I should tell you. H-how...how my parents died."

Hiccup turned to her suddenly. "You don't have to," he assured. "Not unless you really want to."

"I do," said Raven. "I owe it to you, Hiccup. You should know. You _deserve _to know. You ready?"

Hiccup nodded.

"Okay, here goes..."


	10. Chapter 10

**This is my FORTH update today. I hope you're all liking where this story's headed. I've got quite a bit in store for you all. :) Shout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: Same here! I get all the best ideas at the very LAST minute, and for some reason, it works out better than I would have had it any other way! Strange how things work like that sometimes, huh? :) I'm just glad I get ideas at all. :D And yeah...BAD ARGUMENT! :) Awful. I have a trust/don't trust thing with Raven. Like, "To trust, or not to trust, that is the question" thing going on. :) **

"It was a normal day on my island," Raven started. "Nothing new. Isen-my sister-and I were at our house, doing what we normally did. Just regular stuff. We...we were talking and laughing about different outfits and other mindless stuff, and then the door swung open."

Raven paused. Hiccup didn't press, but he was intently interested. Raven continued:

"He told us our parents had fallen off the side of a ravine," said Raven.

"Fear of Heights," Hiccup said. "You told me you were afraid of heights because it had to do with your..." he hesitated. "Never mind. Keep going."

"Yeah, you're right," said Raven. "That's why I'm afraid of heights, sort of like how you developed a temporary fear of dragons. It had to do with someone you loved." She shook her head. "Isen didn't take it well," said Raven. "She kicked me out and yelled at me. I...I didn't have anyone else, Hiccup. The family who loved me had died, and the family I had had disowned me. So...I built the little raft thing you found me by and left. I...shipwrecked, I guess, because I remember falling asleep during a storm and waking up with Astrid in my face."

The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Toothless and Eyelicker stared at their masters, wondering what in the world had happened. Raven shook her head.

"When I met Astrid," said Raven, "at first I thought it was Isen. And when I met you...I don't know. You were really the only person who came to me first. Whenever I wanted to make friends back on my island, I would have to go to them. But it was different this time. You came to me. It wasn't...it wasn't something I was used to. And then you offered me a place on Berk. You didn't care you didn't know me, you just saw I needed help and were willing to give it to me. And for that, I am thankful. You have _no idea _what it gave me, but I can try to explain."

He waited for her to continue.

"Hope," said Raven. "You gave me Hope. Hope that things could change, hope that I could have a new life, hope that maybe, just maybe, I could have friends who didn't care about my past, but in order for me to really know if you cared about it or not, I would have had to tell you my past. Do you care, now that you know where I came from? Do you want to kick me off your is-"

"Of _course _not, Raven!" said Hiccup before Raven could even finish her sentence. "Why would I judge you from where you came from?"

"I don't know," said Raven. "I'm afraid of heights, rather useless..."

"Seriously?" asked Hiccup. "I'm not afraid of heights, Raven, but I can't even pick up an axe without nearly decapitating myself. Speaking of useless, how about the fact I don't even have all my bodyparts?"

Raven was tempted to ask what happened to his leg. She had seen it when they first met, she just hadn't mentioned it. Instead of asking about that, she prompted, "But you can do other things! You have a brilliant mind, you can train dragons without hardly even trying, you're great at the forge...you call that useless?"

"Thank you, Raven, you just proved my point," said Hiccup. "You see, what I've been noticing is you've been looking at all the negative things you can't do instead of looking at the positive things you can do."

"I can make bread," said Raven. "Not too good, but I can do it."

"Yeah, see?" said Hiccup. "Astrid can burn _water_." He laughed. "Now how on _EARTH _do you _BURN WATER_?" he asked. "Who can _DO _that? Seriously! It's an alarmingly mysterious feat, I'll give her that."

Raven laughed as well.

"You should sleep though," said Raven. "How long to aftershock fevers usually last?"

"Normally two to three hours," said Hiccup. "Nothing major. I don't know though. I had one for nearly two days once just a few weeks after I was cured from the poison, so I really don't know how long to expect them to last."

"Yeah," said Raven. "I should leave you to sleep. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Raven," said Hiccup. Raven left the loft, a smile on her face. Eyelicker eyed her happily as Raven made her way back to her bedroom.

"He's really nice, Eyelicker," said Raven. "Best friend I've ever had. And he...he accepts me for who I am. Since when does anyone do that?"

Eyelicker looked at her master, an undetermined expression written across the dragon's face. Raven smiled.

"Well, goodnight, Eyelicker," said Raven.


	11. Chapter 11

**'dis mah FIFTH update today, sorry for taking so long! Busy with, y'know..._life_. :) Shout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: Yep, I believe I am going to write It Comes At Night near Halloween. And if not near it in reality, then I'll make the Ghost Dragon appear on Halloween. Oh, and what about this: Snotlout and the twins keep trying to scare Astrid, and then Hiccup disappears, and she thinks it's one of their jokes, and they're all like "No joke, this is serious" and Astrid's still not buying it but then no one else had seen Hiccup and then they start panicking...OOOH! SUSPENSE! :) LOVE THE IDEA! **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Yeah, a bit of the main purpose of that scene was just her getting it out of the way. Let's see how she and Astrid get along in future chapters! :)  
**

**Arcaane: Wow. Your OC _does _sound a bit like Raven! XD! Strange that. :) Great Authors think alike I suppose. I'll have to look into some of your stories. :D **

**AnimeAngel: Ugh. WRITERS BLOCK! DO NOT SPEAK TO ME OF WRITERS BLOCK! AGH! Lol! When I get Writers Block, which I often do, I just shove through it, and it works. :) Thank goodness it works, or I wouldn't be anywhere! :D Ruff and Tuff bouncing off the walls, the song "It's the End of the World As We Know It" playing in the background, Hiccup and Toothless ducking for cover...Yep. I am so writing this sometime. HAHAHA!**

Raven woke up the next morning with Eyelicker licking her cheeks. Raven laughed and pushed the Terror off before sitting up. Light streamed through the window, indicating that morning had arrived.

Raven swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up. She moved and looked up the loft, just to see if Hiccup was still there. As she had suspected, he wasn't. Raven smiled. He really couldn't stay in the same place for very long, could he?

She opened the front door and walked outside, breathing in the sweet smelling morning air. She wondered where she could find Hiccup, but then she heard a hammer pounding, and she knew.

Raven ran towards the forge. Eyelicker got tired of having to hold onto Raven's forearm and now flew alongside Raven. When Raven reached the forge, Eyelicker flew back and alighted on her arm.

"Well, someone's feeling better," Raven commented while entering the forge. Hiccup set down his hammer and turned in her direction.

"Well, yeah," he said. "They never last for very long."

Raven smiled. "So..." she said, "how long have you been here?"

"Ahh, a few hours tops," said Hiccup, doing a seesaw motion with one of his hands in a "more-or-less" type gesture. Raven frowned at him. "Hey, but it was worth it!" he said suddenly. He wrapped his hand around the hilt of the sword and picked it up, swinging it with ease. "Lightweight," he determined.

"That's great!" said Raven. "Fishlegs told me you can't even really pick up a normal weight sword."

"Well, Fishlegs told you correctly," said Hiccup. He handed Raven the sword. She was surprised. She knew it was lightweight, but she hadn't expected it to be _this _weightless.

"It'll never survive in battle," she said, handing it back to Hiccup.

"Funny, Astrid said the same thing when we made the first sword out of this material," he said. "But watch this."

He set his sword down and picked up a rusty one. He set it up so the blade dug a few inches in the ground. Then, he picked up the Gronckle Iron one again.

"Ready?" he asked Raven.

"Yep," said Raven. "Knock yourself out."

Hiccup grinned and swiped with his blade. Raven gasped at the effect. The Gronckle Iron blade cut straight through the steel one without even chipping or cracking.

"THAT'S INCREDIBLE!" shouted Raven excitedly.

"Indeed!" said Hiccup. He strapped the sword to his belt. "I'll just have to show the rest of the academy."

"When should we go?" asked Raven.

"How about right now?" Hiccup offered.

The two mounted Toothless, and the Night Fury ran off to the Academy. When they got there, the others had already arrived.

"Hey, guys!" said Hiccup as he slid off Toothless' back. "You ready to do some training?"

"Yeah, but no Morse Code," said Tuffnut. "That stuff is boring."

"Yeah, it's no fun," said Ruffnut.

"I say we do Good Dragon Bad Dragon!" Astrid offered.

"YEAH!" shouted Snotlout, mounting Hookfang. "SNOTLOUT! SNOTLOUT! OI! OI! OI!"

Raven turned pale at the thought of flying. Hiccup saw it, obviously, because he came against the idea.

"No, I think we should work on the Morse Code a little more," he said. "We haven't exactly fully mastered it."

"Aww, come on, Hiccup, why not?" said Snotlout.

"Because I said so," said Hiccup.

"No, there's another reason," Snotlout pressed, approaching his cousin after dismounting his dragon. "What is it?"

"I just don't think we should," said Hiccup.

"WHY NOT!?" said Snotlout.

"BECAUSE I'M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!" Raven screamed. That was it. She was so mad at Snotlout she could have...done something. She didn't know what exactly.

And then Snotlout laughed. "Really?" he asked. "No wonder you're so ashamed of yourself."

"_SNOTLOUT_," said Hiccup in a warning tone, almost as if daring his cousin to continue.

"That's pathetic!" said Snotlout, completely ignoring Hiccup. "Dragon Rider Raven: Fear of Heights!" He laughed again.

"STOP IT!" Raven hissed, but there were tears in her eyes.

"And now you're _crying_?" said Snotlout.

"Snotlout, STOP IT," Astrid growled.

Before anything else could happen, Raven turned and bolted, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"RAVEN, WAIT!" Hiccup called. He turned to Snotlout and shouted "I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY!" and then turned and ran after the girl.

Snotlout suddenly realized that everyone was glaring at him. Toothless had stayed behind, feeling Hiccup could help Raven. He needed to help the others take care of Snotlout.


	12. Chapter 12

**HELLO, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! PRESENTING THE CLIFFHANGER SHOW! XD! WITH YOUR HOST...QUEEN CLIFFIE! *pushes an applause button* Seriously though...here comes the cliffies. Oh boy. :) This is my FIRST update today, sorry it took me so long. Life got in the way *sigh*. Anyways, shout-outs: **

**Arcaane: Ugh, I TOTALLY know what you mean. I have the soundtrack for the second film on my MP3 player, and I just can't get it out of my head. So...now I want a giftcard for music so I can get the first film soundtrack. :) It is AMAZING soundtrack, though! INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL AND OUTSTANDINGLY WELL DONE! :D **

**amillipede: Not this chapter, alas, but chapter 13. :D (the chapter after this one). Ugh, Snotlout, why are you so mean?! Get 'em, Toothless! *Grabs virtual bowl of popcorn to watch* THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME! **

**AnimeAngel: YES YES! SEND THE SCAULDRON ONTO HIM! I'll send my Fireworm army! *whistles loudly* That should hold him. XD! **

**Wanli8970: Yeah. I think I'll be writing another story after this, and then go to "It Comes At Night" when it gets a little closer to the end of the month (since it only takes me like, three days or so to complete a story, we'll have plenty of time). :) **

**Everyone else, enjoy chapter 12! Thank you all who just read without reviewing, faving, or following, too! Don't feel pressured to review...I love seeing what you guys think, but if you can't, don't worry about it! :) Have fun! **

"RAVEN! RAVEN, STOP!" Hiccup yelled.

Raven ignored him and kept running. She was surprised at how well Hiccup kept up with her. She ran straight into Raven Point, Eyelicker following her in flight, Hiccup following her and the dragon, although he was chasing after the girl.

"RAVEN! HOLD ON!" he screamed.

"NO!" shouted Raven. "NO, I WON'T HOLD ON!"

"STOP!" shouted Hiccup.

His voice sounded louder now. He was gaining. Quickly. Raven ran faster than before, but not before she felt Hiccup grab her wrist and hold her back.

"LET GO!" shouted Raven.

"No, I WON'T!" said Hiccup. "NOT UNTIL YOU LISTEN TO ME!"

"I AM NOT LISTENING TO ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY!" shouted Raven.

"My cousin was just being a jerk!" said Hiccup. "He didn't mean anything!"

"HE MEANT EVERY WORD OF IT, HICCUP!" shouted Raven.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT HE DIDN'T!"

"I KNOW Snotlout, Raven! He wouldn't say something like that to intentionally hurt your feelings!" said Hiccup.

"Well he said it intentionally, _and _he hurt my feelings!" said Raven. "Stop trying to stop me!"

"I can't, Raven!" said Hiccup. "Hear me out!"

"I WON'T!"

What she did next shocked both of them. She grabbed Hiccup's arm and twisted it, forcing him to let go of her. He cried out in pain as Raven shoved him backwards. He couldn't catch himself, so he landed hard on the ground with another shout of agony.

Raven was taking deep breaths through clenched teeth, staring as Hiccup held his bad arm in his good one. Suddenly, Raven realized what she had done. She looked down at her hands with a look of horror.

Hiccup looked up at her and quickly tried to stop her from doing what he knew she was going to do. "Raven, don't leave, please!" he begged. "You didn't mean it! It's no big deal, really!"

Raven stared at him for another moment before turning and running in the opposite direction. Eyelicker followed her closely.

"Raven!" Hiccup called, getting to his feet uncertainty and taking off after her again. Part of him said _Stop trying, she'll hurt you again _while the other part said _Just look at her, she's scared! Help her! _

_Leave her! _

_Help her! _

_Leave her! _

_Help her! _

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" shouted Hiccup to himself. He had better judgement and worse judgement battling back and forth. Worst part was, he didn't know which was which.

He followed her, cradling his bad arm with his good one and calling out to Raven, although he was running slower than before. Raven continued to run, but she was running out of breath. Hiccup took the advantage and sped forward. He reached out with his good arm and grabbed her arm.

_What a scrabble minded fool_, part of his mind told him.

_What a great friend! _said the other part.

_What an annoying feat_, Hiccup thought to himself.

"Raven, stop," said Hiccup, calmly. She ceased her struggling and locked eyes with him. "You didn't mean it," said Hiccup. "I know you didn't."

"But I still did it!" said Raven. "I hurt you!"

"I pushed you!" said Hiccup. "Please don't leave, Raven. You can't! You're my friend, and it's my job to be there for you, and help you. You can't just run away from that, Raven. If you try, I'll just follow you."

Raven looked at him and then raced towards him. Hiccup was afraid she would attack him, but instead she just hugged him and cried.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

"I'm sorry too," said Hiccup. "I'm sorry for everything."

They stood there for a while until they decided to head back. Hiccup would have to have a little "talk" with his cousin...but at that moment, they heard something. Like a muffled voice, only it wasn't muffled.

"Hello, Brother," said the voice. "I thought I'd find you here."

Dagur the Deranged stepped into view.

"Dagur," said Hiccup. "Don't you ever take a break?"

"I would," said Dagur, "but I can't rest knowing you're out there with MY Night Fury."

"Toothless isn't yours," said Hiccup. "He will NEVER be yours. Don't you get it?"

"Oh, I get it," said Dagur. "I get that you're a coward. Besides," said Dagur, "I wouldn't keep his name Toothless. It's so ridiculous."

Eyelicker snarled angrily. Dagur only laughed.

"So...where's your Night Fury, Hiccup?" asked Dagur.

"You really think I would tell you?" asked Hiccup. "You're not dumb, Dagur."

"You're right," said Dagur. "Just Deranged."

He whipped out a sword and aimed it at Raven before either Hiccup or her could do anything.

"Raven!" shouted Hiccup.

"Don't," said Dagur. "Now, you will both come with me," he eyed Raven, "or I'll kill her."

Hiccup looked at Raven, and she looked back, her eyes trusting and full of worry and sorrow.

"Fine," said Hiccup. Before he dropped his weapon, he nodded to Eyelicker. The dragon flew off in the opposite direction before Dagur could stop her.

"That's it?" said Dagur. "THAT'S your plan?"

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "Pretty good, huh?"

"Drop your sword," said Dagur. Hiccup obeyed quickly. "Good," said Dagur. "Now follow me to our ship."

"Our?" asked Hiccup. As soon as the words left his mouth, two other soldiers emerged from the bushes. They pulled Hiccup and Raven's hands behind their back and bound them together with leather cord. Raven saw Hiccup wincing, just barely resisting the urge to cry out in pain when his probably broken arm was tied in the already painful position.

"Good," said Dagur. "Now, follow us."

The two soldiers took out swords, aiming them at Hiccup and Raven. The two youths followed Dagur to a small ship set just at the shore. Hiccup and Raven were forced below deck and locked inside, bound in all. It was completely empty besides the two of them.

Hiccup heard Dagur announce, "Move out, men! We're shoving off!"

The boat lurched, throwing Raven and Hiccup off their feet and to one of the walls of the deck below. Raven landed on top of Hiccup, but Hiccup had knocked his head on the side of the wall. He groaned in pain, and Raven quickly jumped off and pulled at her bonds.

"It's no use," said Hiccup. "I'd really hate to be the voice of doom, but we're not getting out of here unless someone comes looking for us."

"How do you know they will?" asked Raven.

"I don't," said Hiccup. "We just need to trust them."


	13. Chapter 13

**'tis my SECOND update today. Sorry about the wait. I am still trying to figure out which story to do after this. I have a poll up on my profile (you have up to three choices, so yeah) with some of the stories, so if you could vote for which one you think I should write next, that'd be great, since I have like, five stories which are tied (one vote each) and I'm just like "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH". Not literally, but mentally. You don't have to vote if you don't want to. I'm pretty sure I could figure it out just by writing all the options on paper, tearing the paper, putting the options in a hat and drawing, but I still would like to know what you think. Right now, I am pretty certain I am going to write "This, is War" next unless I think differently. "This, is War" should be followed by "It Comes at Night" or possibly a really really short fanfic such as "Snowed In". You can see slight summaries for each story on my profile page as well. Now, I ramble. Enough of me talking! Shout-outs: **

**AnimeAngel: Well, I definitely wasn't seeing THAT coming. ONWARD, Aquaria! WE ARE ROOTING FOR YOU! *sits on booth next to all the HTTYD characters* Aquaria! Aquaria! OI! OI! OI! :D **

**Wanli8970: Evil Dagur...hate him so much. :) I talk to myself a lot, so I guess that's what Hiccup was doing. :) I like...feel "To Cliffhanger or not to Cliffhanger, that is the question." Aaaand of course the answer is usually "TO CLIFFHANGER!" XD! **

** Arcaane: YES! I LOVE LISTENING TO SOUNDTRACK WHILE DOING BOTH! :) I normally just listen to stuff on youtube since I don't have the first movie soundtrack yet, but I listen to the second movie soundtrack quite often as well. :) I also have learned quite a few songs for HTTYD 1 and 2 on piano, so I play that while I'm not writing. :) **

**All others, enjoy this chapter and the chapters to come! If you do not like it, feel free to tell me. Negative criticism is appreciated as well as positive. Enjoy! **

Astrid was yelling at Snotlout for what he said.

Toothless was on top of him (quite literally), snarling into his face. Toothless liked Raven. She was sweet, intelligent, and was friends with his master. He jumped off Snotlout and then allowed him to get up. Then, he swatted him with his tail.

And really, one couldn't blame him. Toothless was just about to attack again, when Ruffnut called out "What's that?"

Looking up, they saw a Terrible Terror. But not just _any _Terrible Terror. It was Eyelicker, Raven's dragon.

"What's she doing here?" asked Astrid as the dragon flew in between the chains and landed on Fishlegs' head.

"I'm not sure," said Fishlegs, taking the Terror off and looking at her. "But she looks terrified."

In unison, they breathed, "Raven" and then mounted their dragons and headed off in the direction Raven and Hiccup had gone.

"SEARCH EVERYWHERE!" Astrid ordered. "LEAVE NOTHING UNCOVERED!"

They split up and searched for about two hours, finding nothing, until they heard Fishlegs call out "OVER HERE!"

Instantly, the others headed towards the sound of Fishleg's voice. They landed around him and looked at what he was holding. Astrid gasped and raced forward, taking the object in her hands.

"Hiccup's sword," said Astrid.

"How do you know that?" asked Tuffnut. "There's a lot of swords here."

She showed him the sword, not allowing him to touch it (for obvious reasons, seeing as how he was Tuffnut). Carved out on it was the Berk Crest and the initials: H.H.H III.

"Now who else on Berk has those initials?" asked Astrid.

"Not me," said Ruffnut. "That's for sure."

"Something happened," said Fishlegs. "Look at these footprints."

They saw what footprints were obviously Hiccup (for obvious reasons, seeing as one of his legs was prosthetic), and then more which could have been Raven's, and then larger ones that could have well belonged to anyone at least ten years older than Hiccup.

"Who do these belong to?" said Snotlout in an annoyed sort of tone, mainly because he was slowly beginning to realize that all of this was his fault.

"Not Alvin the Treacherous," said Fishlegs. "His are a tad smaller."

Astrid and Fishlegs locked eyes. "Dagur," they hissed.

"Dagur?" said Tuffnut. "I love that guy!"

Everyone else (besides Ruffnut, who probably agreed) glared at Tuffnut. He frowned. "What?" he asked. "Am I supposed to hate him?"

"He took Hiccup, and Raven!" said Fishlegs. "And...and if Hiccup's sword is here that means he's defenseless...and Raven's also defenseless...and they don't have their dragons...they're...they're...TOAST!"

"With a capital T," said Tuffnut.

They glared at him again.

"What should we do?" said Fishlegs. "We can't...we have to go get Stoick."

"No," said Astrid. "There's no time. The Berserkers could be miles away by then. No, we have to chase them down ourselves."

"Wellp, there goes the neighborhood," said Snotlout.

"We have to go after them," said Astrid. "We have to."

They mounted their dragons, Astrid mounting Toothless and giving Stormfly a command to follow (she figured once they found Hiccup, he could have Toothless and help them chase off the Berserkers). Then, they took off, the dragons flying as fast as they possibly could.

They had friends to save.

...

"Are you okay?" Raven asked.

"What?" asked Hiccup. "Oh, yeah, fine."

"You don't look fine," said Raven.

"Well, technically speaking, neither one of us are 'fine'," said Hiccup. "We're on a ship headed to Berserk where we'll likely be either a) killed, or b) worse."

"What's worse than being killed?" asked Raven.

"Watching the ones you love get killed," Hiccup answered.

Raven fell silent. She knew he was right. She would rather have died herself than watch someone she cared about die some horrible way. Well, die some way _at all, _actually.

"You have a knot on your head," she commented. "Does it hurt?"

"Yep," said Hiccup. "Next question?"

"Who was he?" asked Raven.

"Dagur the Deranged, Chief of Berserk, totally hates me," said Hiccup casually as if he were counting each one off a grocery list. "Next."

"Where's Berserk?"

"Far from here, not too friendly, everyone there follows Dagur, Dagur wants to kill me," said Hiccup simply. "And these bonds are so...ridiculous." He tugged, trying to pull it apart, but obviously to no avail. "Seriously? What do they think we're going to do?"

"No idea," said Raven. "This is terrifying though, Hiccup. Do you even think the other Berkians are coming for us?"

"I...I certainly hope so," said Hiccup. "Because when we reach Berserk...wham. Pretty much no more hope."


	14. Chapter 14

**'dis 'mah THIRD update today. Hope you guys are still hangin' in there with me. :) Sorry in advance for the cliffhanger...and every cliffhanger you know is yet to come. Shouldn't be too long now before we finish the story. Yay! Then I can get started on a new one! :) Shout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: And I quote Hiccup when he said "Who is this guy? Like, King of the Armadas? Does he go _anywhere _without one?" XD! (from the episode "When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"). I guess Dagur doesn't know about the whole battle thing. *sigh* Someone should tell him. No, seriously, someone's gotta tell him. :) **

**I would like to PERSONALLY thank each and every one of you who read, review, fav, and follow for being awesome. I would also like to PERSONALLY thank all who DO NOT review, fav, or follow, and just read, for also being awesome! :) YOU ARE ALL AWESOME AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU GUYS KNOW THAT! :) Don't let anyone tell you differently! :) Enjoy chapter 14!**

Noon, and nothing.

...

One o'clock, and nothing.

...

Two o'clock, and nothing.

...

Three o'clock, and nothing.

...

Four o'clock, and nothing.

...

Five o'clock, and nothing.

Ugh.

Astrid and the other dragon riders had been searching for hours, and yet they found nothing so far. They were just about to go back to Berk and call out some search parties, when Fishlegs suddenly called out, "I see them!"

Astrid looked to where he was pointing and saw that he was right. A few hundred feet away, a small ship was coming into view.

"Alright," said Astrid, "no one fire at the ship until we get Hiccup and Raven out. That means _you_, Tuffnut."

"No fair," said Tuffnut.

"I'm going to act as a distraction," said Astrid. "Ruffnut and Tuffnut, you help me. Snotlout, you take out the Berserkers on deck while Fishlegs goes down below and gets Hiccup and Raven. That ship can't have more than one below deck. Shouldn't be too hard to find them. We do this as a team. Ready?"

"Ready!" they replied in unison.

"Then let's go fight ourselves some Outcasts!" shouted Astrid. "GO!"

She and the twins advanced on the ship quickly. Stormfly followed Astrid at her command, Astrid herself still mounted on Toothless.

"Hey, Berserkers!" shouted Astrid. "You guys finally decide to go insane on us, or are you still berserk, as usual?"

"FIRE!" shouted Dagur to some of his archers. They aimed and blasted their arrows towards Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut in a rapid session. They were crossbows, so naturally one arrow lead to another, which lead to another, and sooner or later, it was bye-bye all hope of surviving.

They would have to do this fast.

Meantime, Snotlout laid siege on the others on the ship with a blast of fire, clouding the ship in smoke. Fishlegs landed Meatlung on the ship and found the hatch leading below deck. He opened it, revealing Hiccup and Raven.

"Guys!" shouted Fishlegs. "Are you alright!?"

"Fishlegs!" shouted Hiccup. "You have NO IDEA how happy I am to see you!"

"Nor I you," said Fishlegs, "but we have to get out."

He jumped below and took out his Gronckle Iron sword. The blade sliced through the leather bonds as if it were as easy as scissors cutting through paper (which, probably, it was). He handed Hiccup the sword Hiccup had made, and then the three jumped back onto the deck.

One word came to mind: Chaos.

Snotlout and Hookfang, along with Meatlung, were taking down Berserkers that lunged at the dragons and their masters. Astrid, Stormfly and the twins landed their dragons on deck, knocking a few more ignorant soldiers out of the way.

She dismounted Toothless, who ran over to Hiccup.

"Hey, bud!" said Hiccup, mounting the dragon.

"Eyelicker!" Raven shouted as the little Terror flew towards her and alighted on her forearm.

"Hate to break up the reunion, but we have to go," said Snotlout.

Although Hiccup knew he was right, leaving at that moment seemed near to impossible. Dagur was facing Astrid at the moment, who was trying to knock him unconscious with the flat end of her blade, Dagur doing the exact same thing.

"I know, I know," said Hiccup, "but we can't go just yet. We have to take care of these guys first."

"Have it your way," said Snotlout, fending off an unfortunate Berserker.

Hiccup nodded and approached Dagur to help Astrid. He swiped his blade, bashing it up against Dagur's axe. Dagur stumbled off balance, but just for a second. He regained it, his focus now on both Hiccup and Astrid.

"You fight well," said Dagur. He twirled his axe around as if he had done it a gazillion times (which, actually, he had). "And I thought this was going to be too easy."

Hiccup looked for something he could use. Astrid had turned and was now fighting off another Berserker, so he didn't have her to help him anymore. He had his sword, and that was about it.

He ran to the side of the boat and grabbed hold of one of the ropes. Dagur approached, but just as he did, Hiccup cut the rope. It pulled him upwards towards the top of the mast.

"Ow, ow ow ow!" shouted Hiccup. "ROPE-BURN!"

Dagur gritted his teeth and climbed the mast after him. Hiccup got to the top before the Berserker Chief, but not by more than ten seconds. Now the two were fighting on the narrow wood that kept the sail of the ship up.

_That was not smart_, Hiccup thought. _THAT WAS NOT SMART._ _Now I'm not only fighting a deranged maniac who wants to kill me, but NOW I am fighting a deranged maniac who wants to kill me nearly fifty feet off the ground. Brilliant move, Hiccup. Brilliant move. _

Dagur advanced, swinging his weapon. Hiccup ducked just before the blade cut him in half.

_Don't get decapitated, don't get decapitated, _he told himself. _That would hurt. THAT would hurt_.

Him and Dagur battled. Hiccup lost his footing frequently. His prosthetic limb didn't do him any favors. Dagur, however, had the better of the fight.

It happened so quickly. Hiccup eventually lost his footing one too many times. When he did, Dagur took advantage. He swung, and Hiccup dodged, but he was already off balance enough. He fell off the side of the mast with a quick yet solid scream as he plunged to what he thought for sure was his death.

Raven didn't know what she was thinking that made her do it. She saw Hiccup falling, and didn't have time to stop and think "Is this really a good idea?" or "Do I really want to do this?"

She didn't know what she was thinking, looking back to that moment. She ran over to Meatlung; the only dragon besides Toothless who actually felt comfortable around her.

"Meatlung, you have to let me get on your back," Raven ordered. Hiccup was still screaming as he fell. Astrid was shouting, but none of the others could have caught him. It was either Raven, or he died.

Meatlung seemed to understand, although she was entirely uneasy. She let Raven mount her, and then sped off as fast as she could (which really wasn't really that fast) towards Hiccup.

And then...


	15. Chapter 15

**WHOOP WHOOP! This is my FORTH update today, my wonderful readers! I really LOVE this story! :) I am having SO MUCH fun writing it! **

**IMPORTANT: We should be finishing this story by tomorrow morning or somethin'. Problem is, I don't know which one to write next. On my profile, I have a list of some stories with brief summaries that I am going to write in the future. ALSO on my profile, I have a poll in which lists the stories. The story with the MOST VOTES will be the next one to be written. So yeah, if you could do that (or leave a review with your vote if you don't have an account) that would be EXCELLENT! You don't have to. I could also just write them on flashcards, put them in a hat, jumble it up and then write the one I pick, but that's no fun. :) Shout-outs: **

**Arcaane: OOOOH I LOVE "FOR THE DANCING AND THE DREAMING" SO MUCH! I can play it on piano, and I have the lyrics memorized, so I play and sing. I LOVE DOING IT! :D I know quite a few songs from HTTYD just because I LOVE them so much, and because they're awesome at the same time. :) So...to answer your question, I do play a bit of piano. :) And you do too? COOL! (or as Raven would say it..._cold. _XD!).  
**

**Wanli8970: Jittery...NOT GOOD! JITTERY IS NOT GOOD! XD! Yeah, I think SOMEONE should tell Dagur. About time he knew. XD! **

...the timing was perfect.

Just before Hiccup smashed into the deck, Meatlung swooped in underneath him, caught him, and then blasted into the air to dodge Berserkers firing arrows at them.

Hiccup looked around in shock. One minute he was falling, the next minute he was on Meatlung sitting behind...Raven?

"Raven!" shouted Hiccup.

"Yep, I just did that," said Raven. "And please don't ask me how because I have no idea...just don't talk about the height for now, please?"

"I didn't think of it," said Hiccup. "And thanks."

"All in a days work," said Raven. "Now how do we land this thing?"

Hiccup gave Meatlung the land command, and she did so, landing intentionally on top of Berserks to knock them over. Astrid ran over to them as Hiccup and Raven dismounted.

"Thank you, Raven," said Astrid. Then she turned and raced off to fight more Berserkers.

"You're welcome," Raven said lamely.

Hiccup grinned, relieved he hadn't dropped his sword while falling. He found a dagger sprawled across the deck and offered it to Raven, who took it gratefully.

"Come on, Hooligans!" shouted Hiccup. "Let's go...um...FIGHT STUFF!"

Normally, that would have been lame, but the dragons and riders were already hyped up on attacking Berserkers, so they didn't even care at that time how strange and uncalled for the battle cry was.

At first, it was going great. The dragons fought alongside their riders, giving it all they had. The riders fought alongside their dragons doing the same. Dagur had finally gotten down from the mast and was now fighting Hiccup once more, but Hiccup had the better end of the fight for the time being.

And then it started going South.

The Berserkers were stronger than the Hooligan dragon riders, which gave them an advantage. When the youths tired, the Berserkers were ready to continue fighting.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called out. "There's just...too many of them!"

"I know!" replied Hiccup. "Oh, _Astrid _I know!"

"What are we going to do!?" shouted Raven.

"KEEP FIGHTING!" shouted Hiccup. "WE DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!"

"Of course you do," said Dagur.

"How did I know that was coming?" asked Hiccup.

Dagur laughed. "Just surrender to me your Night Fury, and I'll let you and your friends go," said Dagur.

"Yeah, sure I'll do it," said Hiccup. "And I have both my feet."

They continued fighting.

Then the dragon riding Berkians began to despair. There didn't seem to be anymore hope that they would win this battle. The Berserkers were just too strong even for the riders _and _their dragons.

"There is no way we're going to make it!" said Snotlout.

"Thank you, Snotlout!" said Astrid. "Makes me feel _so _much better about the situation!"

At that exact moment, Dagur pushed Hiccup off balance and then knocked him off his feet. Hiccup was sent sprawling on the deck, gripping his sword, refusing to let go of it.

"So, Hiccup," said Dagur. "It ends today."

Then, as Dagur raised his axe, something crashed into the Berserker boat. Dagur was thrown off his feet and onto the deck, along with many other Berserkers. The Berkians held onto their dragons to keep them from getting tossed around like ragdolls.

Then, people began boarding the Berserker vessel. Hiccup finally knocked himself out of his daze and looked to the object that had knocked _them_ off balance. It was a huge warship, complete with cannons, and a rather mean looking crew.

_Great, more party members, _Hiccup thought sarcastically to himself. _Kill-all-the-Hooligans-leave-no-survivor style. I love these things. _

But the soldiers didn't seem to be going for the Berkians. Instead, they were focused on the Berserkers.

Raven suddenly gasped and stood up. She had been the only one from Berk to have lost her balance. She couldn't stop herself from gaping at the soldiers.

Then, a female boarded the Berserker vessel. The first thing Hiccup thought was _Whoa, it's Astrid's twin_. That's exactly what she looked like. Her braid was to the side instead of down her back as Astrid always wore it, but it was the same colored slightly dirty blonde color. Her eyes were crystal blue, like Astrid's, and she also had bangs that covered her eyes ever so slightly. She was taller and obviously older than Astrid, but other than that, they could have been twins.

"Isen?" Raven gasped.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" shouted Isen, Raven's sister. "Hope we're not too late to join the fun!"


	16. Chapter 16

**Okay, so I know I TOTALLY said I would finish this story tomorrow morning. Well, guess what? I'M FINISHING IT NOW! THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER! :D HURRAH! This is my FIFTH update today. I CANNOT BELIEVE how many people enjoy this story! :) As usual, some shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: THAT SOUNDS FANTASTIC! I LOVE Percy Jackson AND How To Train Your Dragon (I like HTTYD a little more than PJ, but I love both of them all the same). Just finished reading Blood of Olympus. NO SPOILERS, THOUGH! :) I'm lookin' forward to it! :) **

"IT'S ASTRID'S DOUBLE!"

Naturally, that's the first thing that blasted out of Snotlout's mouth when he saw Isen. Isen turned to him and glared, and then looked to her sister.

Raven knew she should have been thankful for the help...but then she remembered everything Isen had said to her.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" shouted Raven.

"I wanted to apologize!" said Isen, drawing her axe casually and knocking an unintelligent Berserker unconscious. "What I said to you? I didn't mean it! I came LOOKING for you, Raven! After what happened, I realized what I had done! I'm sorry!"

"Okay, who is she, and why does she look JUST LIKE ME!?" shouted Astrid angrily. "THAT IS TERRIFYING!"

"Coincidence!" Hiccup called casually, parrying with a Berserker. "She's Raven's older sister!"

"I DON'T SEE THE RESEMBLANCE," said Astrid.

"Who _cares _about RESEMBLANCE!?" asked Hiccup. "I'M ABOUT TO GET DECAPITATED HERE!"

"Oh, right, sorry," said Isen. She ran forward and knocked the Berserker on the head with the flat end of her axe. He crumpled to the deck, unconscious.

"Ugh, _thank you_!" Hiccup breathed.

"Yeah, look behind you," said Isen.

"I know," said Hiccup. He turned around and parried with Dagur. "Oh, you meant _him_."

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" shouted Dagur.

"THERE'S the Dagur I know!" said Hiccup.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" shouted Dagur.

"Well, _somebody's_ angry," said Isen.

"Isen," Raven growled.

"Fine, fine, I'm going," said Isen. She stepped forward, knocked Dagur off his feet, and then knocked him unconscious. Hiccup was surprised at how fast he was taken down.

"So," said Isen, "let's get off this blasted ship, shall we?"

...

"Why'd you come back?" asked Raven.

"I realized what I lost," said Isen. "Raven, I didn't mean what I said."

"You sure sounded convincing to me," said Raven.

"I know," said Isen. "I'm so sorry, Raven. I would never have said something like that and meant it. You know that, don't you? You know I love you. Could you...could you ever forgive me, for hurting you? Could you...would you come back to me? With me? Back home?"

Raven hugged her sister, and Isen hugged her back.

"All the way, Isen," said Raven. "Oh, Isen, _all the way_."

"Awww," Ruffnut breathed. "Cute."

Astrid smirked.

"So...Astrid Two," said Snotlout.

"My name's Isen," said Isen, "and you better NOT call me Astrid Two again."

The entire time they had been boarding Isen's ship, Snotlout had been constantly calling her that. And it had been getting on her nerves.

"You still haven't introduced us," said Isen to Raven.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Raven. "Isen, these are Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut. Their dragons are Toothless, Meatlung...um..."

"Hookfang," said Snotlout.

"Barf and Belch," said Ruffnut and Tuffnut in unison.

"Stormfly," said Astrid.

"And this is Eyelicker," said Raven, gesturing to the Terror on her forearm.

"So you have a dragon now, huh?" said Isen.

"Yep," said Raven. "They saved me, Isen. These Berkians me a place on their island."

"I owe you everything, Berkians," said Isen. "Is there anything I could do to repay you for what you did for my sister?"

"No, Isen," said Hiccup. "We wouldn't accept it."

"Yeah we would-oww!" said Snotlout, cutting off when Astrid elbowed him.

"I can't not give you something," said Isen.

"You saved us," said Hiccup. "We owe you something."

"I believe not, Master Hiccup," said Isen. "You saved Raven, we saved you. I believe we are even."

"I suppose we are," said Hiccup.

"And I also suppose we should head back," said Isen. "It's nearing dark."

"We should," said Raven. She turned to the Berkians. "Guys...I can't thank you enough," she said. She shook hands with Snotlout, which was strange. "Thanks for...something," said Raven.

"And I'm sorry about earlier," said Snotlout. "I shouldn't have ever said those things to you."

"No, you shouldn't have," said Raven, "but I forgive you."

She extended her hands to Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who took them at the same time in a criss-cross manner. "I thank you two, too," said Raven. "You are the most dangerous yet awesome people I know."

"Aww, you're just saying that," said Tuffnut.

"And Fishlegs," said Raven, "thank you for everything." She gave him a quick hug and then looked at Astrid. To Astrid's complete surprise, Raven hugged her tightly. Astrid, after a moment of shock, hugged the girl back.

"I misjudged you," said Raven. "I'm sorry."

"No, I misjudged you at first glance, too," said Astrid. "Please forgive me."

Raven and her parted and then Raven turned to Hiccup.

"And you," said Raven. She stepped forward and hugged Hiccup tightly. Hiccup returned the embrace. "I couldn't thank you enough, Hiccup," she breathed. "You were...you _are_...my friend."

"And who knows?" said Hiccup. "Maybe we'll see each other again someday."

"Maybe we will," said Raven. "I hope so."

"Remember," said Hiccup, "Berk will always be home to you too, Raven. We'll always have a place for you at the academy. And remember what we worked on." He tapped against the mast in a simple manner. Raven instantly picked up on what he had said in Morse Code: _Don't forget the lessons_.

She smiled and tapped back _Like I could ever forget them_.

"We should go," said Isen. "Thank you once again, Master Hiccup, for helping my sister."

"It was an honor, Isen," said Hiccup. "I'd do it again any day."

The youths mounted their dragons, and then they took to the air with a final wave to Raven, Isen, and the crew of the ship.

The Dragon Riders sailed into the night.

_**THE END**_


	17. IMPORTANT AN

**THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!**

**Okay, so, on the poll I set up for which story to write next, there are TWO that are currently battling for first place. These are the two: "It Comes At Night" and "Remember Me." There is a chance I will write "This, is War" which I have some great ideas for, but in the meantime, I need to know which story to write AFTER "This Is War." In "Remember Me", Hiccup gets amnesia and forgets everything except three things: 1) making peace with the dragons 2) losing his leg and 3) his name is Hiccup. And then the Berserkers attack.**

**In "It Comes At Night", legend has it that a mysterious Ghost Dragon appears every twenty years on the same day: Halloween. And legend speaks correctly. What happens when this mysterious dragon appears?**

**Both fics will be rated K+. "Remember Me" will be a "Family/Friendship" fic, and "It Comes At Night" will be an "Adventure/Friendship" fic (there will be a little Hurt/Comfort in later chapters. Same for "Remember Me".)**

**CHOOSE, MY PEOPLE! I AM OFF TO START WRITING "THIS, IS WAR"! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ASAP, knowing how quickly I finish stories, I'll need these results soon! See ya!**

**-BeyondTheClouds777**


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